Whether it’s a big strategy game like Civilization 6 or a city builder like Cities Skylines 2, the process of building can be very schematic. You lay the perfect roads, you outline zones down the meter, and you, as the player, the pseudo god, have complete and final control over everything that gets made. It’s a wonderful experience, like building the perfect model, but it perhaps fails to capture the essence of a society; of a growing culture and empire, which expands organically and reflects the personalities of its people. Created by solo developer Tomas Sala, Bulwark Falconeer Chronicles is a much more fluid, much more joyful city-building game. One of 2024’s most underrated new releases, it’s just been completely revamped.
After a series of apocalyptic weather events, sea levels have risen such that the only place left for human beings to live is on the tops of mountains and cliffs. Your job is to build your own burgeoning society, forge trade routes with other provincial leaders, and invite them to join your society as you attempt to reunite the entire world. But Bulwark Falconeer Chronicles isn’t a dark, survivalistic city-building game like, say, Endzone or Frostpunk.
On the contrary, building feels like running a brush over a canvas – in a matter of minutes, you can transform a virgin rock face into a cathedral, a port, a row of gloriously baroque houses. In our own Bulwark review, Ian calls it a “beautiful” take on city builder traditions. If you haven’t played it yet, now is definitely the time.
Six months since it first arrived, Bulwark is getting a pseudo relaunch. First, the name is changing – goodbye Bulwark Falconeer Chronicles, hello Bulwark Evolution. Secondly, there’s a fantastic new free build mode which removes all the progress checks, resource and economic pressures, and combat from the main game so you can focus on creating whatever perfect cities you desire.
On the other end of that spectrum, Sala has created another new mode, Total Conquest. Here, you start the game as the enemy of everyone else on the map, and need to focus your efforts on units, defenses, and warfare. There are no diplomatic options and you’re the constant target of raids – this one isn’t for the faint of heart.
Responding to player feedback, progression in the Bulwark Evolution main game is now clearer, so you have a firmer sense of what to do and how to build up your city.
If you’re still not convinced, the strategy game has a ‘very positive’ rating on Steam – a huge 90% of recent reviews are favorable. And if you’re still not convinced, on Friday September 6, Bulwark Evolution will be available at half price as part of the Steam Daily Deal. If you want to check it out, just head here.
Otherwise, try the best grand strategy games, or maybe branch out even further with the best 4X games on PC.
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